Botswana’s First Bontleng Futsal court/park, is a 100% solar-powered park that prides itself on having 21 sheltering stinkwood trees and an underground water cistern that can hold up to 50,000 litters of rainwater harvested using the surface of the futsal court.It also has flourishing vegetable and aquaponics gardens, all of which have benefited over 650 children within the community of Bontleng.
Driven by the desire to use sports to address social challenges faced by underprivileged children in urban and rural communities, a group of young people with a love for sports and the environment came together and built Botswana’s First Bontleng Futsal court/ park in 2014. Swift Mpoloka, co-founder and chairman of the Pula Sports Development Association, which is responsible for the First Bontleng Futsal Park, said that they realised early on the massive influence that sports have in community development as it can promote economic empowerment while keeping children away from crime and substance abuse.
Mpoloka said,
“Stop complaining and start doing, be the change you want to see. It started with myself, Sobukwe Mothobi, Ruri Groth, Malebo Raditladi and Tymon Makofi. We came together because a lot of people are complaining about the alcohol and drugs in Botswana, but no one is doing anything about it.
So we said let’s use sports as a pull factor to address social challenges in underprivileged communities. That’s why we formed Pula Sports Development Association. Then we decided to build a futsal park that is also an educational and environmentally forward-leading park.”
What motivates him and his team are the advantages of sports on childhood development. Sports contribute to the reduction of depression and anxiety while instilling confidence and resilience, especially at a time when COVID-19 has disrupted communities.
“We also have an early childhood development programme that empowers 72 children on a monthly basis,” said Mpoloka, adding that this was made possible by social impact partnerships with the Bontleng Village Development Committee (VDC), UNICEF, Now for Them and Learn To Play.
Through their partnership with Learn To Play, Mpoloka said they approach early childhood development at a child, caregiver and community level. Mothers, dubbed Mamapreneurs, were trained to establish community-initiated playgroups. All play and learn resources they were given to run the playgroup at the park were developed primarily using recyclable and reusable materials, as well as natural materials from the children’s local environment. The resources given also include a daily activity guide with culturally sustainable play and mindfulness at its core, a low-cost resource development guide, stories and other learning tools. For the Pula Sports Development Association, things were not always easy as they initially faced funding and environmental education problems.
“When we started, we faced resistance at community, public sector and private sector levels, as they did not understand the innovative, environmentally friendly infrastructure project we envisioned,” said Mpoloka.
However, after educating all relevant stakeholders, Mpoloka said the community buy-in was phenomenal. The Futsal court/ park was also launched through partnerships with the Rotary Club of Gaborone, Rotary Clubs Rivermead (Chelmsford), Ingatestone, Clacton-on-Sea and Dunmow in Essex, UK. Mpoloka and his team are now planning to implement their urban and rural community strategy of mushrooming off-the-grid community sports parks in communities that really need them across the country. Climate action will continue to be a common factor in their projects as they want to empower children with skills and knowledge and ensure sustainable change for the sake of generations that will come after them, he said.
“Being off the grid-enabled us to survive droughts and has saved us the trouble of paying water and electricity bills. Sustainable Development Goal 2 is zero hunger, so pre-COVID-19, we planted sweet potatoes, spinach, fresh herbs and pumpkin. Currently, we have an aquaponic system that has tilapia fish which offers the community protein,” he said.
The objective of their garden was to showcase and inspire backyard gardening, as they view sustenance farming as an important element in food security, he said. The park also believes in recycling and segregating waste at source. Medical waste, tyres, beer bottles and recycled cans have since been used in the venue’s Earthship construction. The park also boasts dry compost toilets that allow them to convert human waste into fertiliser as opposed to using pit latrines that are detrimental to the environment and subsequently human health.
Speaking to the media, Swift Mpoloka was asked some questions…
On a personal level, why are you so passionate about the project?
Look I didn’t do well at school. I felt like I was misplaced. But I think there is a place in the world for children who love sports and the arts; who want to dance and paint. I said ‘let me make that happen, let me give children a space that the educational system isn’t catering for.’
Also, if we want our country to compete in sports on a global scale, we have to start at a grassroots level. We are losing talent by saying children only need to be mainstream educated. We need a balance.
What makes it an environmental park too?
The surface of the futsal court is actually 600 square metres, and it acts as a water catchment area. The gutters run underneath the lapa, where there is a 46, 000 litre rainwater tank. Pula Sports wanted a green space. It’s important to teach children to take care of their environment as well as play sports. That’s why we built the eco-buildings with beer bottles. You might think it is trash but actually, you can build with it.
We also installed solar power. The sports seats are given shade by the solar panels and then that gives power to the pitch flood lights. The loos are eco-dry compost toilets. We are completely off the grid.
How did Pula Sports get funding for the first Bontleng Futsal Park?
We sourced it from various private sector entities that paid directly for building materials. We asked them to get on board with a self-sustaining park that brings about social change. The land is city council land and because we have added value to the community, they have provided us with a security guard.
The great thing now is that corporates book the space, and that is how we pay the park manager. So you see, if it’s to last it needs to be self-sustaining.
What does Pula Sports do for the community?
The beauty of this space is that it can serve the community, from a 2-year-old to a 65-year-old. However, children are our biggest stakeholders. Instead of having children roaming around and potentially getting hurt, they can now come here. It’s free; we do try to encourage children to bring a piece of recycling as their entrance fee. Our park manager did a course in safeguarding children. So he is accredited as a childminder.
We also have a partnership with Bontleng Primary School where we do various grassroots sports development activities. Different coaches come in and teach volleyball, basketball, tennis, etc.
We also run educational programmes with various partners. Children can learn various things from reading to personal health and finance. The idea is to build the infrastructure, the people will come, and change will happen. Stop complaining and start doing, be the change you want to see.
I see you have lots of vegetables growing. What’s that about?
The idea here is to give the area to the unemployed women in the community. They can come and learn how to grow food and use this space too. However, it takes a while to crank up the wheels of change. I often say changing the world is the most difficult of all jobs. It’s an area of the park that needs more energy, but we will get there.
So what’s next?
We hope people will see that we have built the park and can see that it is working. Pula Sports would like to build more in other communities. The idea is to show the Government that this is a very good initiative. We’re hopeful they’ll come on board to help us build more.
Ideally, we want one in every space you can find. The great thing is you can tailor-make it to best serve each community.
Source: Xinhua, Family Gems
